Our House Right Now

Here are some more pictures that I took right before people arrived at our house for the party we had at our house for the "CPA Celebration." I was happy that we had a reason to finally get some projects done and get a few things hung on the walls. I'll be putting together a few posts to detail those projects, but for now, I am just going to document what the main rooms in our house look like as of right now! (Sorry the pictures aren't that great, they're just from my phone - but you get the point!)

Family Room

Dining Room and Living Room

Mattie was on the lookout for everyone to arrive and the fun to begin!

I don't have exact before and afters, but here's a little comparison... I have a feeling it will always be a work in process!

The living dining room didn't have furniture until December, so this is the first comparison I have.

 

I'm excited to keep working on these rooms over time! It's really fun to see how they change!

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

CPA Celebration!

To celebrate the fact that I am DONE taking CPA Exam tests (because I finally passed them all! Woot!) we invited our families and friends over to our house to celebrate the wondrous occasion! 

My mom came on Friday night to help with some of the preparations (we were up quite late getting everything finished) and it was greatly appreciated! I was finishing stenciling the curtains when she got there (a post to come about those) and we got right to work getting everything cleaned and set up and decorated.

After getting to bed late, we got to it right away again on Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on the house and making food. And soon enough, it was time for people to start arriving!

Trent making some delicious burgers!

Mattie anxiously awaiting everyone's arrival!

 

Doreen and Nick gave me wine. AWE.SOME! =)

For a while, everyone hung out and chatted and a mad game of Phase 10 was started!

The younger girls watched a little TV, and I think they enjoyed that quite a bit!

Then, it was time for Trent to start grilling. Of course, it started raining soon after he went outside to grill, but he braved the rain and provided the meal for everyone! The food was wonderful. I ate way to much!

Mattie knew where to hang out to try and get some food.

After supper, everyone hung out a bit more.

Some slippers from Mel and Russ and the girls.
They are very nice when I "put my feet up and relax"
now that I'm not studying! I even put them on
that night after everyone left! They're getting lots of use!

 Then it was time for cake!

As the night went on, some people had to leave to make the trek home. Those that were left hung out for a while longer and also played a few games of Bananagrams.

It was intense =)

At the end of the day, I think we all felt like this:

It was an awesome party and an awesome day. I love having our house full of people, and it's even better when they're all people that love us! I am so thankful to everyone who came to celebrate! I am also thankful for those who brought food to share, chairs for people to sit on or tables to sit at, and I'm thankful to those who brought gifts (although they were unneccessary), as I am grateful for everyone's thoughtfulness!

I'm also sooo thankful to my wonderful, amazing husband who not only put this fabulous party together for me (and got me a delicious cake) but he also put up with me in the 2 weeks prior to this party as I left the house in shambles while crafting away up until the last minute. And well beyond those 2 weeks before the party, he put up with me for the past year and a half as I studied. It wasn't the easiest time, as I was constantly neglecting him and other household chores to study and then getting distracted with other things while attempting to study. I'm also sure I wasn't always the happiest camper as I was worn out from getting up early in the morning to study and being worried about the tests. This just shows me that we can get through anything. At times it seemed like I was never going to get through these tests and it was never going to be over, but not only did we get through this, we got through many other tough and busy days at the same time during the last year and a half. I'm now excited to "get on with our lives" and experience life with him as we build our home together! There's never a dull moment at the Fredericksen house!

Mother's Day Weekend

(Yes, I realize Mother's Day was three weeks ago... Oh well, I do what I can =) )

Trent and I are blessed to have wonderful and amazing mothers. When we got married, we each gained one more woman in our lives who cares for us and would do anything for us!

This year for Mother's Day weekend, we got to see both of our moms. We spend Friday night and Saturday in Ankeny with Trent's parents and got to see my mom on Sunday.

 

While we were in Ankeny, we made a trip to Des Moines to do some exploring. We went to some shops around the East Village and stopped in to look around West End Salvage, among other things. We then finished up the trip with supper at Zombie Burger. Sunday morning, the whole family went to church and then grabbed a quick lunch before Trent and I had to head to leave town. We always find very fun things to do while we're visiting, and this special weekend was no exception.

 

After brunch, we headed to Westside to meet up with my mom and siblings. We all went to Ar-We-Va's graduation ceremony. My siblings, my mom and I gave out two different scholarships from funds that were set up with memorial money received after my dad's passing. Four senior basketball players were each given $500 from the memorial fund and four members of the senior class were each given $500 for an agricultural scholarship from a fund that was set up from a $7,500 gift given by my dad's employer for the past 12 years, Allied Producers Cooperative. I am glad that we are able to help these seniors continue their education past high school and hope that they go on to have a positive impact on the world.

 

Presenting the Basketball scholarship:

 

Presenting the Agriculture scholarship:

 

After the ceremony, we went to a few graduation parties and stopped in to see Grandma and Grandpa Jons' before we had to head back home. It was a busy day with my mom, but I was happy to just be able to spend that time with her!

 

It was a fast and fun weekend, and I hope our moms know how much they are loved and appreciated all year, not just on Mother's Day!

 

 

 

Happy Second Anniversary to Us!

Today is Trent and I's 2nd Anniversary! (Insert cliché "oh how time flies" comment)

 

 

So much has happened in our short two years as The Fredericksen's and I'm so happy and grateful that I get to go through the ups and the downs of life with such a great man by my side. I am very excited about all that is yet to come in our future!

 

The week of our first anniversary we closed on our first house and the week of our second anniversary I found out I passed my final CPA test (not really an "us" thing, but it sort of is). I am looking forward to finding out what fun our third anniversary, and all the days leading up to it, will have in store for us!

 

Oh, Happy Day!